


Free

by yeaka



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: F/F, Ficlet, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-21
Updated: 2015-08-21
Packaged: 2018-04-16 12:50:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4625940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kira gets the best kind of late-night visitor.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Free

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Was stumped on what to write so I plugged choices into a computer choose program until it told me to write this. :O
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Trek or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

She’s only just put her head down on the pillow when the buzzer sounds—there’s no rest for the weary. Sometimes, she’s grateful to have a bed at all—fresh sheets and a mattress somewhat softer than the ground, even if it is _Cardassian_ —but other times, this station is no more welcoming than the camps were. She rolls onto her back and stares dully up at the green-lit ceiling, while the door alarm sounds again and she wonders if she cares enough to check it.

Because she knows one too many people who might only talk to her in the dead of simulated night, Nerys mutters, “Computer, who is it?”

The voice irritatingly answers, _“Please specify.”_

Rolling her eyes, she grunts, “Outside my door.” The buzzer sounds a third time, and even as the computer does its little processing beep, Nerys is getting up. She’ll answer, one way or another. The computer will just let her know whether she needs a phaser or not.

_“Keiko O’Brien.”_

Nerys’ hands stop on the tie of her robe. She glances once at her nightstand, belatedly remembering that Keiko doesn’t wear a communicator. Nerys cinches her robe together all the faster and practically flies out of her bedroom. Three’s nothing technically _wrong_ with a civilian outside a senior officer’s door at night, not even for them—they haven’t _done_ anything, not really. Nerys has compromised on one too many moral standings, but she still answers to the Prophets. She doesn’t want Keiko standing out there a moment more than necessary, and for Keiko to be there at all, it must be important. Her first thought is that Keiko and Miles had a fight, but this _isn’t_ where Keiko should come for that. 

As soon as the grey door slides opens, Keiko steps inside. She comes right over the threshold, still in tight black pants and a brownish vest, the same outfit she had on this morning, when Nerys spotted her across the replimat and smiled. Nerys doesn’t have a chance to so much as greet “hi.” 

Keiko’s _on_ her. One step, and Keiko’s feet are between hers, Keiko’s long fingers sliding along either side of her face, Keiko’s trim waist flush against hers. Instinct and ingrained training tense Nerys’ body, but Keiko’s allure paralyzes her, and she does nothing with it. She just stands three, still as stone, while Keiko presses her soft lifts to Nerys’, warm and sweet with the faint taste of human lipstick. Intellectually, Nerys _knows_ she should pull away, but she lifts one hand up to Keiko’s cheek instead, caressing it lightly. She doesn’t have to guide Keiko back. Keiko keeps it chaste, ends it first, and walks around Nerys enough for the door to close on its own. 

“He said yes,” Keiko breathes, excitement turning her dark eyes wide. The lights are barely on—auto-night-activity setting—but they do enough to catch her wide, rouged smile. She always looks the most beautiful when she’s _happy_. Nerys doesn’t understand. 

She repeats numbly, “He said _yes_?”

“Mhm,” Keiko mumbles, which Nerys has learned is a human noise for _yes_. Keiko takes a step aside, looks around Nerys’ quarters, like taking a minute to gather herself, then saunters right back up, a grin twisting her lips into an almost-smirk. It’s so wide that it makes her nose wrinkle, almost enough to make her look not quite so alien. She half purrs, half coos, “I’m officially in an open marriage.”

Somewhere, in the bottom of her shoes and rising, Nerys is _ecstatic_. But the rest of her is anesthetized with disbelief. She asks, “Really?” It’s hard to believe Miles would be willing to share someone so vibrant, intelligent and kind as Keiko. Keiko nods her head. 

“There are a few ground rules,” she admits, “and I think I might have to sacrifice him to even more time with Julian, but the important thing is right now, _this_ is okay.” They both know what _this_ is. It’s still a little sketchy with the Prophets, but if they’re all consenting adults, Nerys thinks they might allow it. They like _love_. And Keiko just feels so _right_ already in her quarters, like the first time Nerys saw her bend to teach Bajoran beliefs to refugee children, or the first time she gave Nerys a plant for her birthday—a native Bajoran flower that the Cardassians almost polluted to extinction, but volunteers like _Keiko_ brought it back. Or the first time they stumbled into one another at the gratitude festival, a little tipsy from Quark’s latest concoction and the Celestial Temple opening bright beside them to wash Keiko in the glow of the heavens. 

“I’m sorry it’s so late,” Keiko mumbles, breathing just as fast as Nerys’ heart is beating. “There was so much talking I lost track of time, and then when I thought about waiting until morning... I couldn’t wait. You and Miles will be on duty again, and I’ll be home with Molly, and I just...”

Nerys steps forward. She takes Keiko’s face in her hands, kisses her _hard_ , one arm around her velvet middle because they _can_. When Nerys’ tongue slips between Keiko’s lips, Keiko’s is right there to meet her, searching hands on her shoulders and locking tight around her neck. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Nerys is making a mental note to be particularly nice to Chief O’Brien. In the meantime, she kisses Keiko until she’s lost all her air.

Then she takes Keiko’s hand and guides her back to the bedroom, smiling like children with bright futures.


End file.
